06/28 - Tilden

There were 16 of us today on a hike which started in thick, drippy fog and ended in beautiful sunshine. There were many more flowers than we expected (lots of monkeyflower, clarkia and wonderful salvia as well as berries on the red elderberry) and some beautiful views  This was a partial circle starting from the Steam Train parking lot on Grizzly Peak, heading north on Vollmer Peak trail, Lupine trail up to Sea View Tr and return along Lower Big Springs Tr starting from just above the Quarry. Juanita shuttled drivers back up to get the cars. The hike was just under 3.5 3.5 miles.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/momcat_ksw/sTxH81

6/14 Fernandez Ranch

There were a baker's dozen of us hiking on a clear and warm but (thankfully) breezy day. The John Muir Land Trust opened a new section of Fernandez Ranch at the beginning of June. This was likely the last practical chance we would have to hike there until the cooler weather of fall. We hiked up Windmill Trail to the gate where we have often had lunch, then followed the new section of trail to the north and west through open grassland before circling back eastward via Woodland Trail and then south to rejoin the Windmill Trail. Distance about 4 miles (thank's Monique, for your iPhone GPS data) tho Google Earth says only 3.7.

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06/07 - Rush Ranch and Spring Luncheon

Twenty two of us today! And the weather cooperated. It was cool and windy with an approaching front, but that is far better than hot. However it was hazy and the views not as great as they had been when Jeanne, Elaine, Phred and I scouted the area in mid-May. You will see some pictures from that earlier trip as well as the ones I took today. Anything with a very blue sky is from the earlier trip!

We convened at Rush Ranch, a Solano Land Trust property that is part of the San Francisco Bay National Esturine Research Area. The larger group split in two with the one group setting off for an approximately two mile loop along the marsh and back across the open grassland. The others opted for a stroll out to a rise overlooking the marsh and back, just under 1 mile. Reports from the first group of hikers was that the trail is very overgrown and they had to do a good deal of bush whacking.

It is a short drive back to downtown Suisun City and our lunch location at the Athenian Grill. We had one of the covered porches which nicely held our group. After lunch some of us walked about looking at the public art and some went down to the Suisun Wildlife Center before heading home.

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